Army of One
by Ninja Cat of Light
Summary: An unsung hero tries to take matters into her own hands during the events of Advent Children. However, she ends up fighting her own battle when her mission is altered. Oneshot.


Yes, I know this is yet another OC fic... good thing this is just a oneshot, however! Yeah, I'm not gonna put all my readers through yet another OC fic, but I really wanted to post this because I loved writing it and I thought it different from my typical OC's I use. This isn't an SI... trust me... there's no way I can take on the remnants without bringing a camera then running the other direction!

Disclaimer: I do not own the FF7 Compilation.

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Army of One, a Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children fic

She looked over her shoulder, knowing that there was something indefinitely following her. Opening her mouth to silence her breathing, she could barely hear the footsteps in the brush, somewhere, cleverly using her footfall that was crunching the dirt beneath it to disguise its own. She had been followed her entire life and it wouldn't be very surprising if something would pounce out of the seraphic white trees that glowed innocently in the eternal night. Be it Turks, SOLDIER's, or one of many monsters after her, something was bound to reveal itself. Rays of moonlight bounced off of the hair that matched the color of the heavenly body shining down on her. She knew that the moonlight would also betray the follower's hiding spot, eventually.

She walked the open road, waiting for the monster to make its appearance. Her vision was distracted by the grass around the road that was bent, ever so slightly, by a cool breeze. She flicked her blazing green eyes off of the vegetation and looked straight ahead of her, knowing that she would give herself away if she looked directly at her pursuer. Everyone thought that the grounds she was walking on were safer than most, but not when she had set foot there. Not much time would pass until the summoned monster would make its appearance, and she would dispatch it as easily as the others.

"This is taking entirely too long." She muttered grasping the handle of whatever weapon was lashed to her back by a leather strap, ready for battle. Her feet paused, bracing her legs to ready for a fight. Her bare arms were beginning to raise goose bumps from the wait of her opponent.

Then, the large creature, somewhere between mechanical, feline, canine, and dragon finally sprang from the cover of the vegetation, bent on sending her mission to a halt. In only a matter of seconds, she unsheathed a simple broadsword, no fancy gadgets attached or materia enhancements, and she swept the blade proficiently across the monster that was targeting her. The air seemed to be sliced with it, leaving the metal of the sword a silvery blur, like her long hair that was whipping with the momentum.

As the current monster disappeared in its smoky death, several more ambushed her but were foiled as she fought each and every one off, and they joined their fallen comrade. In a flash of an oversized knife being swung repeatedly, they were finished. It was evident that there would be more to come, so she broke into a run, digging her thick soled boots into the soft dirt of the road, knowing that there wasn't a whole lot of time to spare, now.

Closing in on her destination, she could hear the light galloping of the monsters behind her, all intent on either her capture or her destruction. The demonic creatures weren't as forgiving as people were, so it didn't take much to think what they would most likely do. She didn't have time to fight them off, but she dreaded having to take care of them later at the rate they were multiplying.

Placing her hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword, she slid to a halt, taking a look around at the giant tree overlooking a pool. The area seemed to be empty, devoid of any people that would have excelled her towards the completion of her mission she had set for herself. Something had now changed the course of that mission, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Great…" she groaned, waiting for the rest of the shadow walkers to close in. She could hear, in the still of the darkness, them placing their feet, getting ready to dive from their positions and the footsteps of the ones to come. She was beginning to break a sweat, which only made her that much moodier. She hated getting her hands dirty, much less, break a sweat over anything, so it would mean business whenever a mission that had been altered caused her to get unnecessarily filthy.

The menacing creatures ambushed her from all sides of the clearing, barreling straight for her, gnashing their teeth and baring their claws. One had landed on top of the readied woman, but was thrown off by the blade in between them and another was soon defeated as she used the movement of her getting up from the ground to slice her sword across it. One after the other fell to her expert hands, but their number remained steady, replacing their fallen almost as soon as they had left the face of the planet.

"I probably should be getting back." she whispered to the white trees around her as more and more came after her, driving at her like an angry lioness batting away snapping dogs. Even a lioness, though, starts to feel the battle wearing down on her, and the tenacity of dogs could be great.

_Why didn't I bring explosives? _ She scolded herself. _They're always handy in these situations, but I just had to think that I would be better off without them…_

"I just had to come out here." the fighter mumbled, angry that her targets had already left the premises, most likely in Edge, by now.

Of course, they were in Edge. That's why they had sent her current opponents to dispatch of her. She knew better. They would know she would come here, hoping to end things herself. All were the same experiment, just improved versions of each one. Even if they were far apart in their intents and purposes, they came from the same line of Jenova cells, and, what the others thought, from the same "family".

Family; the word had been so horribly twisted in the others' minds. The word had been remolded into their brains by the Jenova that was driving them into something so wrong that it was a threat to the planet, now. They were constantly looking for their "mother", and now had gathered a "reunion". All words were something of a family concept, but she knew better. She wasn't sure how, nevertheless she was able to hold onto the light and she had fought against the effects of the mako injections instead of giving in like the others did.

Mako, though, would affect the body like it did her when enforced, whether she wanted it or not. It was something inevitable, to become what she was. Another remnant.

_But I have a will. Better yet, I have a brain._ She countered, feeling her guilty self-conscious bare down on her, once again. _It doesn't matter._

When she had the time to remember, she realized that there was supposed to be a crowd of children, too. She cursed herself at letting the rogue clones take off with the innocent kids who were only looking for a cure. They wouldn't stand a chance in the control of the remnants, not even if they thought they had a stronghold of the chaotic situation. Her heart went out to the young betrayed, before focusing on the fight, again.

Finally seized, one of her brothers' monsters had grabbed a hold of her leg from behind, using the distraction that its counterparts provided. She gasped in pain, but refused to scream outward. Silence, or at least a hushed state, was something she respected, for some reason. She managed to throw off another that was trying to throw itself onto her and smacked her sword against the one behind her that was using its weight to bring her down, shaking it off. Blood trickled from the wound on her leg, soaking through her pants leg.

"How long is this going to be?" she wondered, impatient for an ending. Surely someone was going to stop the madness. They had before. Years ago, when a past evil, that would probably now make a return, had wrought havoc against the planet.

Then, the already wounded girl's sickness began to bother her. The black speckles on her back began to writhe from the irritation of her body being in battle for too long. The electric pulsing of the pain surged through her entire being, and she had to clench her teeth to ignore it. It was inevitable for someone like her to catch the stigma, and she knew she was going to get it, eventually, however one would never realize how much it would hinder her.

She may have had a well fortitude, but her endurance wasn't as high as the past SOLDIER's she had trained with, even fought with. The shadow walkers were beginning to see weak points, attacking her legs that were already tired from the hike and the final dash to the pool she had made. They had been worn down from dancing about through the monsters for maybe hours and her muscles were beginning to ache for a rest. The Geostigma, that had found her who was so full of Jenova cells hard to resist, was growing more in the amount of pain it was using against her.

A burst of adrenaline let her take out the five monsters that had crowded around her, still she was swamped with more. Through the remaining wisps of black that was the departing creatures, she could see that the replacements for the casualties came as fast as they went. She began to fear that she couldn't keep up with the waves of her enemies. She felt the need to give up, but she didn't have the mind to. If one truly wanted to live on, it was best that they keep fighting.

Then, suddenly, she could see a light to the direction of Edge. Blue was its color, and she didn't know if it was something good or bad. By the increasing strength of her opponents, though, she guessed that something was really going on, uptown. Jenova's forces were rising. She felt scorn against herself for not being able to stop everything herself.

_I could have stopped this long ago, myself. - But what could just one person do against all three of them?_ Her mind asked her in a barraging flurry. She had been reckless, and she thought that maybe this was her punishment, now, for charging into battle, thinking that she can take on the world. Then again, how many people could fight off an army of monsters for this long?

She found she was receiving more cuts and bites than she had expected. They would nip at her ankles, then slice at her arms. She hated the lack of attention she paid to armor. The only she wore was wrist guards and shoulder pads, the rest of her body was dressed in a cotton sleeveless shirt and lightweight pants, adding to her complex she had with speed. The raging monsters were able to spot her exposed skin of her arms and would also aim for the blind spot that was her back, evoking pained gasping from her, for she refused to scream.

Jaws grabbed hold of her right arm, her free one, and she found herself trying to beat off the vice grip of the malevolent being with the end of her sword, that was attempting to bring her down with its weight. Its companions were taking advantage of her distraction, though; managing to draw more blood from her unguarded legs whose only protection was her knee-high boots. At least steel toes protected her feet, though, and gave a good defense for the monsters attacking her lower body. Then, like sweet release, something gave, it could have been hours before it did, but it did, and there was no more chaos and fighting, the battlefield devoid of all enemies that were disappearing from the force that may have extinguished the blue light, in the distance.

A sigh of relief escaped from her lungs. Sinking to the ground, she began addressing what wounds she had. With a wince from pain, she slid off one boot, that was laced up too tight, which tore off half of her already shredded pants leg with it. She didn't mind a bit, though, and used the ruined cloth to bandage up the most serious of gashes. There were other cuts where claws had grazed her skin, but she knew that they would take care of their selves.

She looked back towards Edge, again. Although, the blue light had disappeared, she knew, deep down, that the fight was not over with, yet. Turning her face away from that direction, she looked up at the moon that gazed back down at her. The loner didn't have a car and had walked the entire distance to the Forgotten City, but she didn't know if her legs could walk her back in the state they were in, at present. Walking was her main choice of transportation for she didn't trust machinery. She didn't trust much, at all.

She pulled out her cell phone, not knowing who she would call, exactly. She didn't make friends easily, and didn't have a lot. It wasn't like she had any real family, either. With that, she put the cellular device away, wondering if someone would bother looking for her if she waited long enough. Most likely it had been a year since someone truly sought her out without the intent of causing harm.

The kind breeze blew across her, cooling her overworked body and gently raising the ends of her hair. She turned around and looked at the pool behind her, wondering if it was safe for someone like her to drink from it. The water looked darkly back at her, but she dipped a hand in it, anyway. Liquid pooled in her gloved hand, soaking the thick cloth through, and she tipped it down, watching the liquid run out of it. She shook off the extra droplets and turned her focus away from it.

She closed her eyes, in order to rest them, but she thought she felt a raindrop fall upon her. Her suspicions were confirmed when another landed on her shoulder. The rain felt strangely comforting, maybe one would venture as far to call it pleasant. Unknowingly, the surging pain on her back seemed to evanesce into oblivion.

She felt the urge to lean back and take a nap. She didn't know if it was safe, or not, but she had earned it.

_It must be over._ She thought, a smile managing to break the somberness of her face. She could feel some sort of dark shadow leave her mind as the rain, sent by the Lifestream, washed away her worries. Lying back on the ground, with her sword beside her, she fell asleep as the rain pelted her from above.

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She thought she had been wrapped in a blanket, judging by the warmth that had overcome her. At first she wondered who had found her, but she took back her thoughts, though, when she couldn't feel any cloth around her. She couldn't even feel the ground under her. She wondered if she was dead. Her body refused to move, and she thought that much further if she was finished, somehow. She was scared, for a moment, not sure why, though. She had nothing to return to, so why did she fear death?

"_Sleep well, little sister,_" a voice spoke to her. Although it was soothing to her ears, she felt a surge of fear, knowing who the voice belonged to. She tried to wrench her eyelids open, but shut them quickly when they opened to a white light, too garish for her sensitive eyes.

"What is this?" she asked, biting back some fear. "What did you do to me?"

"_It's okay_," a girl's voice told her. "_You'll be fine, Saren._"

It was the first time someone had spoken the name she gave herself, years ago. She had been known only as just a number in the ShinRa Company, and a remnant, only known as "little sister", by her monstrous siblings, ever since she can remember. Not many even knew what name she dared to call herself.

"Am I dead?" she ventured to ask, her throat feeling dry. Her eyes were still closed, still not accustomed by the white beyond she had landed in. Then, she stumbled when she felt ground under her feet, and the light was dim enough for her to open her sensitive eyes.

She seemed to be in a field of strange looking vegetation. Saren couldn't remember the name of the colorful plants that were all around her that brushed softly against her with their silky petals. An expanse of white served as the rest of the scenery, confusing her already puzzled mind that was trying to comprehend what was going on.

She saw the figures of a few people against the white, unrecognizable shadows until her eyes focused and was able to make out their faces. Saren only recognized three of the five that were around her. She thought that she should be scared, or at least angry, at the three she recognized, but strangely, she wasn't. Something flickered inside of her as she was able to see her brothers the way they were before everything seemed to blow up in her face, the way they should have been. They looked radiant, all their battle scars healed and urges to act on insanity seemed completely cleared from their familiar faces.

"I am dead," she decided as if it was something enlightening, "I have to be."

A woman shook her head and serenely smiled at the perplexed girl. Her long, brown braid swayed behind her. She was probably the most beautiful of them all, dressed in pink that contrasted with the green ground.

"I wouldn't think so." A man replied. His dark hair was defiant to gravity, and Saren could recognize that he was a SOLDIER- or at least, used to be- by the uniform he was in.

"It's to see each other, one last time, as we should be," one of her brothers said, his long silver hair identifying him as Yazoo. Saren couldn't believe the healed state her brothers were in. Yazoo looked at her with the calm eyes he had before they turned cold and aloof, estranging her from his life, years ago.

"Before we go," Loz added to Yazoo's statement. He didn't seem intimidating anymore, and had the aura of the older brother she used to know. Saren almost couldn't take the way she was seeing her brothers. They were finally free from the Jenova bonds that didn't claim their sister. Tears of the purest joy and sadness at the realization of what was happening, were forming in her eyes, but her stubbornness kept them from rolling.

"But we will wait for you, sister," Kadaj said. It would have been a threat, in his old state, but it was now words of comfort spoken by her siblings and not enemies. His form was the most drastic, losing all of the evil he had collected so eagerly. His smile wasn't one that would strike fear in hearts; it was the familiar one Saren had seen possibly ages before, maybe even a lifetime.

"No," Saren said, feeling the tears she held back over the years well up. "You can't go, now."

"It is our time," Kadaj said, acknowledging every past transgression he had made through the Jenova that had blinded him and knowing that it was simply okay, now. Saren knew that not just her brothers, but her, too, were forgiven. It seemed like that her brothers had outright told her those words, even though they were silent. A tear managed to escape, beginning the downpour of the rest.

"I guess this is goodbye." She choked out of herself. Saren wanted to scoff at the way she was crying, lip quivering and hands shaking.

"We'll see each other, again. We'll be a family, then, when it is your time." One of the brothers said comfortingly. Saren was trying to hide her crying face, though, and couldn't recognize which had spoken.

Then, she did find herself wrapped in blankets, at her apartment in Edge. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but Saren did notice a feeling of resolve within her. Her brothers would wait for her, and they would finally be a family, one day.

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Yeah, so that's my first oneshot, to speak the truth! I liked it very much, myself, and apologize if the readers didn't enjoy it as much. Please, leave a review and tell me what you think!

Ninja Cat of Light


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